


Christmas Comforts

by Yanyangire



Series: Small Comforts [3]
Category: Breaking Bad
Genre: Age Difference, Christmas Fluff, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues, Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-02-17 04:39:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13069332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yanyangire/pseuds/Yanyangire
Summary: Walt and Jesse spend their first Christmas together as a couple. Part of the 'Small Comforts' verse.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I stupidly decided at the last minute that I'm in a slightly Christmasy mood and I really wanted to write something Christmas related with Walt and Jesse, and figured it would be a good opportunity to explore their first Christmas together as a couple in the 'Small Comforts' verse. As an incredibly slow writer however, this will undoubtedly be unfinished before January but I hope you enjoy regardless. 
> 
> Chronologically this takes place after Chapter 11 of 'Small Moments' but it's not necessary to have read it.

“Man, I can’t believe it’s only like two weeks till Christmas,” mused Jesse happily who at that moment was snuggled comfortably into Walt’s side as they watched TV, Walt’s arm wrapped around his waist.

“Hmm,” agreed Walt who was paying more attention the sensation of Jesse’s weight pressed against him than what Jesse was actually saying.

“My tree’s being delivered tomorrow. The thing’s totally huge, yo!” Jesse declared excitedly as if he were incredibly proud of the fact.

“Shit. I hope I have enough decorations and stuff to actually cover the thing,” he added before contemplatively wondering, “Maybe I should pick up some more just in case.”

Walt who turned to look down at Jesse couldn’t help but chuckle at the deep look of deliberation on his face.

“I take it you enjoy this time of year, then?” said Walt.

“Hell yeah, Christmas is the best!”

 “How about you, Mr. White? You gonna get a tree for your place soon?” Jesse asked, glancing back up at Walt.

“Well, I didn’t plan on getting one,” Walt replied somewhat nonchalantly at he turned back to face the TV. To be honest, perhaps in polar opposite to Jesse’s excitement, he wasn’t feeling much enthusiasm for it.

“What?!” cried Jesse, incredulously, “How can you not have a Christmas tree at Christmas, yo? Ain’t that like a crime against humanity or something?”

Walt resisted rolling his eyes and pointing out that a significant portion of the world’s population didn’t actually celebrate Christmas and given that Walt wasn’t particularly religious anyway…

Walt shrugged. “I just don’t really see the point.”

“Seriously? There’s no way I could be dating such a Scrooge,” retorted Jesse, as if Walt’s lack of a Christmas tree reflected badly against him.

“Well, given that I’m the only one staying here and I don’t have my family with me to celebrate Christmas it would be a lot of effort over nothing. I’m the only one going to be seeing the damn tree.”

“I still sleep there every few nights,” Jesse countered seeming genuinely upset.

“It’s my first Christmas without waking with my family for seventeen years so forgive me if I’m not that enthusiastic about decorating my condo as a recent divorcee!” Walt barked, finally losing his temper.

Jesse physically flinched, pulling away from Walt’s side.

“I guess I didn’t think about that…That really sucks. I’m sorry, Mr. White,” Jesse replied, sounding truly apologetic. And God, didn’t that make Walt feel like a complete asshole, especially given how excited the boy had been just moments ago.

“Sorry,” Walt apologised in return with a sigh.

Jesse was such a sensitive person that Walt often found himself reflecting on his words and actions so much more since they had started dating, especially after that particular incident where Jesse had in avertedly learned that he hadn’t actually gotten divorced from Skyler. Nevertheless, needing to be more conscientious wasn’t something Walt particularly begrudged at all as in a way it was far better than the apathy he had experienced for so many years prior to Jesse coming back into his life. While he loved his family, and wanted to do everything to contribute to their wellbeing, making Jesse smile and most importantly, _happy_ was his one of his greatest passions. And the rewards he would receive in return went a long way to fuelling that passion. Thankfully, much to his delight, it happened to be a rather easy task. Perhaps that’s why doing something to upset Jesse or make the boy distressing in any way made Walt feel so horrendously guilty.

 “It’s just...well, difficult. Not being able to wake up on Christmas morning with Holly, what with it being her first proper Christmas and all,” Walt explained, “I mean, I know obviously that she’s far too young to understand the concept of Christmas or to even make memories about the day itself, but…”

“Nah, I totally get it you, yo,” said Jesse sympathetically, before tentatively adding, “But you still get to go over there on Christmas day and spend time with your family, right? I mean, I guess that’s kinda something at least?”

Walt nodded. “Yes, it is.”

Even though he and Skyler were divorced, she still wanted him to be a part of Christmas, which he knew for certain was more for the sake of the kids and to bring a sense of normality, which after everything the family had been through, including Hank and Marie, during the past year or so, they were certainly entitled to.

And while Walt was happy that he hadn’t been exiled from Christmas with his family, he was still aware of how very awkward it would be. Holly would be the focal point – Marie especially would be completely transfixed on her niece and on spoiling her completely – but all the while there would be a that elephant in the room; that he and Skyler after being together for seventeen years, were no longer married and Walt being there was almost a courtesy. It was that last part that made Walt realise that a part of him would much rather spend Christmas day with Jesse. It would most certainly be much less stressful after all.

“How about you? Any word from your parents?” Walt asked curiously, wrapping his arm around Jesse.

With Jesse now pressed against him, he felt the boy shake his head and shrug. “Nah, nothing. But I sorta expected that already, you know? I ain’t heard anything from them since I pulled that whole thing buying Aunt Ginny’s house back from them super cheap. But even before all that, I didn’t actually spend last Christmas with them either so it ain’t anything new.”

Walt frowned. It had been the same with Thanksgiving and Walt couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty as he went once again to spend time with his family while Jesse stayed at home by himself, which in turn felt so much worst given how Jesse had voiced his apparent love for the holiday.

As a parent himself, he could understand the frustration and anger of your child doing drugs and well, being a _crimina_ l, but he couldn’t imagine not at least attempting to check up on his son, estranged or not every once in a while, especially during the holidays. While Jesse always played down his severed connection with his family, Walt knew it upset him far more than he let on and so Walt pulled him closer to him, placing a kiss on his cheek. Even if Jesse’s family had given up on him – fools that they were in Walt’s opinion – Walt wanted Jesse to know how much he cherished him.

Last Christmas Walt had been so distracted with all the other many things going on in his life, that how Jesse would be spending the holidays hadn’t factored into his priorities at all, it now being only when he really thought about it, hadn’t Jesse’s friend been killed around this time of year, the exact same time as Holly was born. And in turn hadn’t his friend’s death led directly to Jesse’s usage of heroin as an escape?

It was no wonder Jesse wanted a nice Christmas thought Walt, inwardly wincing. And so, he decided to put his own issues with the holiday on the backburner in the meantime. After all, if Walt getting into the holiday spirit meant so much to the boy…

“I’ll pick up a tree,” Walt conceded, “Though, Skyler was always the one who took care of the decorations with Junior helping out, so I can’t promise that what’s in my condo will be anything too fancy. I might need your help in that regard.”

Jesse smiled up at him, clearly pleased by the gesture. “Sounds good.”

“After I’ve seen my family, why don’t I come over to your place?” said Walt before nuzzling into Jesse’s neck, “After all, I wouldn’t be able to cope without seeing my darling boy on such an important and special day.”

Jesse probably knew Walt was only doing it for his benefit, but he still let out a giggle, crying, “Hell yeah! You’re the best.”

And suddenly Christmas seemed so much brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks very much for reading. Next chapter should be out in a few days. Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. :)


	2. Chapter 2

“Hey,” greeted Walt as he walked through the door to Jesse’s house the next evening, finding the boy standing on top of a stepladder decorating a very large tree, the smell of pine slightly overwhelming.

“Hey,” Jesse greeted in return, sparing Walt a quick glance before returning to his task.

Jesse certainly hadn’t been exaggerating when he had told Walt that the tree he had picked up was huge. The living room of Jesse’s house had a high ceiling, and the tree also wide as well as tall definitely filled the space of the room.

Jesse’s previous concerns about not having enough decorations to cover the tree no longer seemed quite so exaggerated.

The size of the thing aside, the tree looked rather impressive with Jesse clearly having put quite a bit of thought into the best way to decorate it. In fact, Walt was convinced that even Marie who was incredibly particular and had a very strict order on how items on the tree should go would have been impressed with Jesse’s handiwork. He was also sure however that she would have lamented the lack of purple because even Christmas decorations didn’t escape her borderline obsession with the colour.

Walt stood silently for a few moments watching Jesse work, reminded of how when the boy was passionate about something he really did put his all into it. He couldn’t help but smile a little.

From what Walt could tell, Jesse appeared to be almost finished decorating the tree, the sparse bits of furniture Jesse actually owned already adorned with tinsel, and so instead of offering to help out, he took a seat on the futon, deciding to watch him work.

Walt quickly discovered that he far more enjoyed the view of Jesse stretching out to place baubles along the top branches rather than the tree itself, his t-shirt riding up revealing his cute tummy as he did so.

Jesse meanwhile seemed oblivious to Walt’s admiration – otherwise he would have no doubt made a comment about the leering look Walt was giving him – seemingly far too focused on his task.

“All that’s left now is to put the angel at the top of the tree,” Jesse declared triumphantly.

“An angel, huh?” said Walt, unable to keep amusement out of his voice. “I thought you would have been more of a ‘star’ person.”

Jesse shrugged. “I dunno, it’s what my mom always put on top of the tree. Plus, my aunt really liked angels. I mean she wasn’t religious or nothing. I guess she just liked the concept of them or whatever. Stars are cool too though.”

Then with a laugh Jesse added, “Hey, maybe I could put like a skull at the top.”

“Hmm. I wonder if it would sit up alright at the top,” Jesse mumbled to himself as if seriously considering it.

“A skull?” balked Walt.

“Well, not a _real_ one obviously,” replied Jesse as if Walt was the one being ridiculous.

The boy owned so many items of clothing that had skulls on them that seeing one sitting on top of Jesse’s tree probably wouldn’t have actually been all that farfetched when Walt thought about. Nevertheless, it would have still been rather morbid.

“Hey, hand the angel over to me, will you?” requested Jesse, and Walt was glad that Jesse had dropped the whole having a skull on the tree idea.

Regardless of Jesse’s affinity for them, Walt got the impression that Jesse’s choice of an angel for the tree was out of a sense of tradition, one that he probably wouldn’t stray from.

“Why don’t you come over here and join me instead?” said Walt, a small smirk on his face as he patted the spot on the futon next to him. And yes, he may have been feeling just the tiniest bit turned on from watching Jesse stretching and his t-shirt riding up…

“No way. I gotta finish this first,” Jesse countered, surprising Walt slightly, the boy always –even when appearing reluctant – quick to acquiesce to Walt’s requests. “A tree ain’t complete till there’s something on the very top. I can’t just leave it hanging.”

And Walt thought how he very much wanted to be on top of a certain something, or more specifically _someone_ right then.

“Seriously, I remember like a few years back, Ginny couldn’t find the angel she always placed at the top of tree. She made me search through the whole basement for the damn thing. I was like down there for hours, yo. And I didn’t even find it! After that even though it was after like eleven at night she got in her car and drove to go find a store that was still opened that sold decorations. She said she wouldn’t have been able to go to sleep that night otherwise. Man, it was crazy,” Jesse sighed, although Walt could see that he was in fact smiling, the way he often did when he spoke about his aunt.

As always, Walt found it endearing. Unlike Jesse’s parents he had never met the woman. Not that he actually remembered all that much about Mr and Mrs Pinkman.

Realising that Jesse probably wouldn’t be satisfied until the angel was on top of the tree, and wanting to speed up the process so they could get on with certain ‘other things’ Walt grabbed the ornament and getting up went over to give it to Jesse.

Jesse took it off him, giving Walt a look somewhere between appreciative, and smug that he had made Walt get up for him.

Walt rolled his eyes.

However, despite the angel now being in his hand, Jesse apparently hadn’t quite taken the size of the tree and the stepladder into consideration, not to mention his own somewhat small stature as a few moments later he soon found himself struggling to reach the top, the decoration in the hand of his outstretched arm not quite making it to the spikey top branch.

“Come on,” Jesse muttered under his breath frustrated as he tried to stretch out even further.

The sight was truly endearing to Walt and something he would have contentedly watched for hours but with his protective instinct kicking, even though the stepladder wasn’t very high he still worried that Jesse might lose his balance and fall over and hurt himself. Seeing that the boy was about to climb up and stand atop the very top step, edging forward, Walt reached out and wrapped his arms around Jesse’s waist preventing him from doing so and in turn holding him in place.

Jesse let out a small yelp of surprise.

“Yo, what’s the big deal?” Jesse asked indignantly, the annoyance no doubt more to do with surprise than dislike for Walt holding him.

“Just making sure you don’t fall over and hurt yourself,” Walt confessed. Plus, Walt enjoyed utilising any excuse to touch the boy.

“I’ll be fine,” Jesse replied, and Walt could hear the pout in his voice.

“Better safe than sorry. Plus, you’re having trouble reaching up there, aren’t you, son? Do you want to come down and I’ll place it on the top for you instead?” Walt offered slightly teasingly, resting his forehead against the small of Jesse’s back, knowing already what the answer would be, “I am bigger than you after all.”

“Not that much bigger!” Jesse defended, “Besides, it’s my tree so I should be the one to place the angel at the top.”

Walt laughed. “Alright then, alright.” Walt placated, Jesse sounding to him very much like a sulky and possessive child which in another circumstance may be annoying but again right now was simply endearing.

And struck with an idea, Walt found himself placing his right foot on the stepladder, while his left one remained grounded on the floor, his arms still securely resting around Jesse’s waist.

“Let me at least help,” said Walt, and eliciting yet another gasp from Jesse, he hoisted Jesse up as much as he could without risking losing his own balance.

“Yo, what the hell?!” Jesse demanded, but after a few moments he was sure that he heard a noise that could only be described as a giggle. And suddenly Walt was taken back at least eight years or so when as a father he had lifted Walt Junior up in his arms, so he could place the star at the very top of their family tree. Like Jesse with his angel, Junior had been adamant that it was his job to place the star at the very top of the tree. Walt couldn’t remember exactly when they had stopped the tradition and whether it had ended because Junior was too heavy for him to lift or whether his son had just lost interest. Both sounded equally possible.

But still, like Jesse, Junior had also gotten so excited about the holiday. Although given that Junior had been an actual a child and Jesse was grown man, he thought his son’s love was a bit more understandable. Nevertheless, Jesse’s innocent naivety was just one of the many things Walt loved about him.

He was unsure how long he would be able to hold Jesse for but thankfully the boy seemed to get over his surprise quickly, using the elevation Walt provided to stretch his arm out one final time and rightfully place the angel on its position at the top of the tree.

“Hell yeah!” cried Jesse, clapping and raising is arms as if having completed some near impossible task. And with that, Walt set him back down on the ladder before they both toppled over.

“Switch on the lights, okay?” Jesse ordered, at least content to allow Walt to do that.

Letting go of Jesse’s waist, Walt bent down and inserted the plug resulting in a dazzling show of blinking lights

“It looks great, son,” Walt complimented as Jesse twisted around to face him, and Walt returned his hands to Jesse’s waist, “Why all in all, I say we make a pretty great team.” 

“Hey, I totally did most of the work!” Jesse retorted, nonetheless, smiling at him.

“But I’m glad you were here to help,” Jesse added sweetly, wrapping his. arms around Walt’s neck.

“Happy to,” Walt replied, kissing the boy softly on the lips as the blinking coloured lights danced upon his skin.

“Like I said, a tree ain’t complete till there’s an angel on the top,” Jesse said happily, tilting his head back around to admire his handiwork

‘It does, but I already have my arms wrapped around a far more beautiful angel,” contemplated Walt, although absolutely refusing to voice such a thought out loud. That was far too sappy even for such a romantic and festive moment. Plus, he was sure Jesse wouldn’t let him live it down. Not that he didn’t have his own things to tease the boy in turn but still…

In the end Walt found himself wondering why he had been acting as what Jesse had referred to him the previous day as being a ‘Scrooge.’

Wanting to take advantage of the moment, he scooped Jesse up one more and placed him down on the floor.

“Ready to join me?” Walt asked, Jesse giggling in return.

“Totally.”

And with that, Walt manoeuvred them to the futon, placing Jesse down, fully intent in devouring him, happily reassured that no matter what happened with his family and in the instance of any awkwardness, that just being with Jesse alone would make this Christmas a great one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to add another chapter to this, although I'm not sure how much people would care about reading it after Christmas itself, but I'll see how it goes. ^^;;
> 
> Thank you very much for reading. I hoped you've liked it and comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. :)


	3. Chapter 3

With Mr. White busy that day helping out at the carwash, Jesse took the opportunity to go to the mall to buy Christmas presents, most of which would be for Mr. White considering Jesse didn’t really have anyone else to buy for. As was the case the year before, Jesse hadn’t been invited to attend Christmas dinner by his parents – a big deal in the Pinkman household – and he certainly didn’t expect to receive an invitation either. As such Jesse hadn’t bought his parents any gifts knowing that they probably wouldn’t be appreciated and possibly even be seen as an underhanded tactic at trying to buy his way back into their good graces. Both thoughts depressed Jesse and so he decided there would be no point. He was unwelcome in their home and he knew it, his father having made it more or less clear without directly saying it out loud when he had rejected Jesse’s suggestion of coming over for dinner sometime.

Jesse did however pick up a videogame for Jake of which he intended to mail to his old home.

Just because he had a shitty relationship with his parents didn’t mean he had to have a bad one with his brother. Although, truthfully Jesse had no idea how Jake felt about him, not having seen him since Jesse had been kicked out of his parents house after they thought he had been smoking pot there, unbeknownst to them that the joint had actually belonged to their youngest son.

There was also the possibility that Jake wouldn’t even get his gift, especially on the off chance that his parents recognised his handwriting. He could easily imagine his mom opening it then throwing it away, not wanting her blue-eyed youngest to have not anything to do with their estranged older one.

Jesse frowned, remembering how his mom had so unsubtly left the door open to Jake’s room last time he was there, panicking at the thought of him corrupting Jake.

He supposed if he really wanted to make sure Jake got his gift he could have Mr. White write out the address on the package, but Jesse didn’t want to drag his lover into his weird family shit, especially when Mr. White had worries of his own concerning family this Christmas.

Looking down at the bags in his hands of which contained Mr. White’s presents he made himself snap out of it.

Sure, he wasn’t spending Christmas with his family, but he at least got to see Mr. White, even if was just in the evening.

Plus, there was one more person he needed to buy something for and that was Mr. White’s daughter Holly.

He was seriously in love with the kid. She was just so damn adorable and what with it being her first Christmas and all, he really wanted to get her something nice even if she would have no idea whatsoever that it was from him.

Really it was hard not to smile when thinking about her and feeling his spirits lifted he headed into the nearest toy store sure he would find something. However, it was only when he went in that he discovered that finding a gift for Holly would be a whole lot tougher than he thought, many of the toys on display labelled as being appropriate for a certain age group and up. Given that Holly wasn’t even one yet, it presented a bit of a barrier.

He guessed he understood what with the whole choking hazard thing being an issue, but it was still sort of frustrating. With that in mind Jesse decided it would be a lot easier to go to a store that specialised specifically in baby stuff. Although he found he had to refer to the mall map to find one unlike the toy stores were he pretty much knew where all of them where. And that was totally only because he came to this mall as a kid a lot, not because even in his twenties he and his friends occasionally liked to check out the latest toys and stuff…

Once in the store however, Jesse quickly realised how completely out of place he was in such an environment, the vast majority of the people shopping there being women. Sure, there were some other guys, but they were dressed way differently from Jesse what with their button-down shirts while Jesse was wearing one of his usual hoodies. As such it was kind of hard for Jesse not to feel a little self-conscious.

Still, he was there to get Holly an awesome gift which he wanted her to love. He wasn’t just gonna pussy out and leave just because he felt a little uncomfortable. And so, with the aim to make the people around him believe that he totally belonged there, Jesse pretended to browse as he subtly searched for the toy section, having completely underestimated the size of the store.

He wondered momentarily how babies could possibly require so much stuff before remembering the amount of things Mr. White’s ex-wife packed away for Holly whenever Mr. White watched her overnight. And that was even when Mr. White had stuff for her already there in his condo.

However, during his quest to find the toy section and his attempt to blend in with those around him, something caught his eyes.

It was a small onesie and a dinosaur one at that. Jesse quickly picked it up to examine it. It was green and yellow with a small hood and had little felt spikes running all the way down the back as well as a tail sticking out. As well as being awesome in general it was pretty damn hard not to imagine how utterly adorable Holly would look wearing it as he conjured up the mental image. Also, it felt really soft and Jesse figured Holly would be comfortable enough in it which aesthetic aside was the main thing.

But just as he had decided to buy it, another onesie suddenly caught his attention, this one being pink with rabbit ears sticking out of the hood with a small bit of white fluff stuck to the bottom, obviously meant to be a bunny tail.

Holly happened to own a pink stuffed rabbit that she loved greatly and that was brought along with her every time she visited Mr. White’s place. And so, Jesse was faced with a dilemma. He could get the dinosaur onesie which again he thought was fairly awesome as well as cute, but Holly in the bunny onesie with her own stuffed pink bunny in her arms painted an incredibly sweet image that it was almost too difficult to resist.

With brow furrowed in concentration Jesse glanced between the two, almost as if it were some life or death decision, which considering everything Jesse had been through, was ridiculous.

And jeez, Jesse never thought in his life he would be stood by himself in a store that specialised in baby crap experiencing an internal debate over which baby clothing to buy. Not to mention his use of words like ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’. Although, he sort of blamed Mr. White for that one and not because of Holly…

“Shopping for your little girl?” a voice from beside him asked and Jesse almost jumped out of his skin.

The voice belonged to a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties or so who in front of her had a shopping cart already filled with a variety of different things.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, sounding genuinely apologetic

“Uh, it’s cool, yo,” Jesse reassured as he offered an awkward smile, feeling somewhat embarrassed. From the way he had jumped, one would have assumed that he had just gotten busted by the cops smoking meth red handed rather than approached by some lady in a store smaller than he was.

Although really being approached by the cops would have been a much more familiar, and he dared say more comfortable situation to him than his current one.

Then remembering that the woman asked him a question and well not wanting to appear as if he was doing something he shouldn’t be, he answered her.

“It’s, um, actually for my…uh partner’s daughter. Just not sure which one to get, you know?”, he said holding up the two pairs of the onesies in his hands, “This is like my first-time shopping for a baby, so I guess I’m not used it. And it’s her first Christmas so…”

Jesse was unsure why the hell he was rambling on and telling all of this to a complete stranger. She probably thought he was a complete weirdo or something. But to his surprise, when he looked back over the woman was actually beaming at him.

Jesse shuffled uncomfortably. “Uh…”

“Oh my God, that is _so_ sweet,” she said, putting a hand to her mouth, “You were just looking at them so intently that I thought it must be for your own little one. Your girlfriend must be so happy that you’re taking this so seriously. A lot of guys would just buy any old thing regardless if it was appropriate or not.”

Despite apparently being in an oversharing mode, Jesse decided not to correct her in her assumption that his partner was woman. Still, he felt somewhat encouraged by her reaction and it was much better than having her stare at him with accusing eyes questioning him on what he was doing there.

Maybe he wasn’t quite so out of place here after all…

“Could I maybe make a suggestion?” the woman asked politely.

“Of course,” answered Jesse, suddenly eager to hear what she had to say.

“If you can’t decide, just get both. I’ve been there many a times, believe me.”

Jesse wondered if that was why the woman’s cart was so full already.

“Plus, kids grow out of their clothes so fast that parents are constantly having to buy new clothes. As long as it isn’t hideous, clothes are a parent’s honest to God dream. And I’m sure your girlfriend would definitely appreciate it.”

“Oh, but only if you can afford it, of course!” she quickly added as if worried that she had overstepped, “I mean I’m sure whatever one you do choose, in the end your partner and her little girl will love it.”

Jesse suddenly felt incredibly stupid. Of course, he could get both. Hell, he could probably buy out the entire store’s stock easily with the money he was making on a weekly basis, so why settle on just one of them?

 Jesse gave the woman an appreciative smile.  “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll get both, thanks.”

She laughed in return. “That’s no problem. You just come to love them so much that it makes it so hard to choose between things. You just want to give them everything.”

Jesse’s smile widened as he thought of little Holly. “Totally.”

“Well, I better go pay for all this,” she said gesturing to her cart, “Have a Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, you too!” Jesse called after her, bidding the helpful stranger farewell.

With his dilemma resolved, Jesse picked up the two onesies, making sure he had the correct size for both all the while resisting looking at any of the other ones they had less he cave in and buy them as well.

And with that Jesse headed off to the toy section were he quickly discovered like the women he had just spoken to, he really should have gotten one of the carts from the front of the store.

 

Jesse may have overdone it just a tiny bit when it came to buying Holly’s gifts, so much so that he was sort of struggling to carry all the bags in his arms containing them. In his defence, like the women he had encountered at the store had said, choosing was like super hard, and there was just so many things that he thought Holly would like.

Plus, it was totally fine to spoil someone you love, right?

At that, he could hear Mr. White’s voice in his mind, telling him much he loved spoiling him – which Jesse fully admitted, Mr. White was pretty damn generous to him – because he was such a good boy; _his_ good boy and he that wanted to take care of him.

Jesse felt himself blush and despite the current strain on his arms he couldn’t help but imagine Mr. White right there behind him, his arms wrapped around Jesse’s waist while whispering sweet words in his ear.  

It was embarrassing but also ridiculously hot, so much so that once he was out of here, Jesse was tempted to drive straight over to Mr. White’s carwash and fuck him, consequences be damned.

Eventually Jesse got a hold of himself. Mainly because he was walking past Santa’s village and thinking about such things when surrounded by a bunch of little kids made him feel like super sleazy.

He went over a mental checklist in his mind of whether he had gotten everything he had cane to get. Satisfied that he had, Jesse decided to head on home when all of sudden, catching him completely off guard he noticed a familiar face.

Standing there beside the fencing of Santa’s grotto was none other than Saul Goodman’s PI, Mike, the guy who had cleaned his apartment of evidence of drug use and coaxed Jesse on what to say in the event of the cops showing up when the paramedics came to take Jane’s body away. Although Jesse had seen the older man since then, Mike having helped him track down the location of the poor little kid who’s fucked up junkie parent’s house he had had to break into to retrieve back the money they had jacked off of Pete, it was still a little disconcerting seeing him, serving as an unpleasant reminder of that awful day when Jane died.

Of course, there was also the fact that finding Mike standing outside of Santa’s village was just so jarring that Jesse had a hard time wrapping his brain around it. As such, Jesse found himself suddenly routed to the spot, once again ignoring the heaviness in his arms from the bags he carried.

Mike meanwhile hadn’t appeared to notice Jesse, seeming far too absorbed in whatever he was looking at. Which of course begged the question, what exactly was he looking at?

Jesse’s curiosity getting the better of him he shuffled closer, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was so intently holding Mike’s attention. But all Jesse could see was a line of eager kids all excitingly waiting to see Santa, some with their parents and others on their own, their parents watching and waving from behind the small fence that enclosed the grotto. One kid in line started to cry and a teenage girl dressed as an elf with a look of complete discomfort quickly guided him back to his mother.

Was Mike watching one of the kids queued up to see Santa Claus?  Was it part of his PI work? Maybe he was checking up on some other kid whose junkie parents neglected them and had to be taken away from?

Nah, that seemed unlikely.

“There a problem, here?”

And for the second time that day, Jesse almost jumped out of his skin. He actually dropped one of the bags he was holding.

“Jesus!”

Right there in front of him was Mike, Jesse having been so engrossed in watching the line of kids and trying to figure out the purpose of Mike’s presence there that he hadn’t even seen or heard the older man approaching.

Mike repeated himself. “I asked is there a problem?”

“Uh, no I was just passing by and I thought I recognised you...” Jesse answered awkwardly as he bent down to pick up the bag he had dropped.

Mike looked unimpressed with his answer. “So, what, you thought you’d stop and come over say hello like we’re old friends?”

“What? No! I just…”

Even though Mike’s efforts had helped reassure him that the kid – Kyle – was doing well from the photos he had shown him, Jesse was still rather intimated by the guy.

In all fairness, he had slapped Jesse pretty hard in the head in his apartment that time...

Mike looked like he was about to say more when his eyes darted downwards to the bags Jesse was carrying, the name of the store he had just visited branded on them.

Despite his expression barely changing, Jesse thought Mike was giving him an inquisitive look.

“Uh, they’re presents for Mr. White’s daughter,” Jesse blurted out, “For Christmas, you know?”

Mike didn’t respond, simply turning back around to return to his strangely vigilant watch on Santa’s village. Apparently while Jesse was curious as to what he was doing there, Mike couldn’t have cared less about Jesse’s happenings, and really for all Jesse knew he was about to take out a gun and snuff out the guy in the big red suit leaving a bunch of traumatised children in his wake.

 “Guess I’ll see you around,” Jesse mumbled, feeling a bit peeved.

However, just as he was about to leave he spotted a little girl with blonde hair with a huge smile on her face waving over at him. Confused, Jesse quickly wracked his brain, trying to figure out who she was, not recognising her in the slightest, it only being when Mike lifted his hand to wave back that he clicked that she had been looking at Mike and not him.

And for the very first time Jesse saw Mike smile.

Jesse smiled in turn. “She’s really cute,” he said out loud without meaning to, realising that Mike probably didn’t appreciate him still being there and butting into his business.

Quickly he was about to apologise when to his surprise Mike said, “She is.”

“Is she uh…”

“My Granddaughter,” Mike supplied, “Kaylee.”

It was kind of weird thinking of Mike as a grandfather and probably would have been a lot weirder if Jesse couldn’t tell from his expression on Mike’s face how dearly he loved her. It was the same expression Mr. White wore on his face whenever he held Holly in his arms.

“She’s getting older, so this will probably be her last time seeing Santa,” said Mike somewhat pensively, watching intently as his Granddaughter was beckoned to Santa by an elf and climbed up onto his lap.

Jesse wasn’t sure whether Mike was talking to him or simply musing out loud and so he remained quiet, thinking to himself and hoping that maybe one day he could accompany Mr. White when he eventually took Holly to see Santa Claus. While it would probably be a few years away yet, it was still something he would look forward to.

He continued watching for a minute or so but feeling like he was intruding somewhat Jesse started to silently leave so as not to disturb Mike from the moment when suddenly from behind him he heard, “Merry Christmas, kid.”

Eyes widening, Jesse paused and glanced back. But Mike wasn’t looking his way at all, his eyes still fixed on Kaylee.

Jesse smiled. “Yeah, Merry Christmas, yo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So even though Christmas has passed already I decided to continue on with this. Thank you to devonaa and Jane for the encouragement! 
> 
> The next chapter is technically already written so should be posted in a day or two. It was actually written before this one but flow wise I thought this one worked much better before it thus me rushing to get this done. But I hope you enjoyed it despite it possibly seeming hurried.
> 
> As always comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Walt went out and picked up a Christmas tree that weekend and as expected it was nowhere near the calibre of Jesse’s. While Jesse had gone all out for a real one, Walt had merely picked up a plastic tree from Walmart. In his defence, the White family usually used the same tree each year, the expense of a new real tree each Christmas being too much.

Or well until recently at least. Considering what Walt was now making in an hourly basis, it was actually somewhat comical that such a thing had been a concern only less than a year ago.

Nevertheless, Jesse hadn’t mocked it or Walt’s subpar decorating skills, seemingly just happy that he had gotten a tree at all given his initial reluctance to engage in the holiday spirit.

“I still can’t believe that asshole wasn’t gonna give us Christmas day off!”  Jesse cried from his place on Walt’s couch in reference to their employer.

Christmas day that year happened to fall on a Friday and in the meth business, Christmas day itself, unsurprisingly wasn’t considered special enough to warrant a day off, it only being when Walt had offered for both he and Jesse to work an extra day that weekend, that Gus agreed to let them have the actual holiday day off. After all, as long as they met their quota, Walt supposed it didn’t really mattered when they worked as long as it primarily coincided with the laundromat’s opening and closing times, otherwise people may get suspicious. Not that there was much of a reason for a laundromat to arouse suspicion of course.

As such, he and Jesse had both worked that day, it being a Saturday.

“A lot of people work Christmas day,” Walt told Jesse once again – the boy having been practically grumbling about it all day – trying to sound as if he wasn’t siding with Gus, Walt all too well aware of Jesse’s dislike for the man.

As much as he hated to admit it given that while he respected him, Walt wasn’t exactly Gustavo Fring’s biggest fan either, he could see were the man was coming from. While he wanted to spend Christmas day with his both his family and Jesse, he was also fully aware that Gus was running a business, and people didn’t stop purchasing narcotics simply because it was the holiday season. In fact, Walt would have been surprised if sales didn’t in fact increase considering Christmas was perceived by many as the time to be with family, and when it came down to it, it was highly unlikely that in most cases the people buying meth were surrounded by supportive loved ones. In that regard, their customer base would probably be wanting to use their product even more than usual. However, with Jesse being both a previous meth addict and someone estranged from his own family, Walt didn’t dare voice the thought out loud to Jesse in fear of upsetting him.

Despite Walt’s reasoning, Jesse snorted.

“We got Christmas day itself off. That’s something to be happy about, and two more days after that to spend together,” said Walt, in particular looking forward to having a long weekend.

To think if he had still been teaching high school he would have had almost two whole weeks off this time of year. Not that it was enough to make him miss teaching. At least not in regard to what consisted of mainly disinterested high school students.

“Yeah, but only cause’ we worked today. And we only get those days cause it’s the weekend,” Jesse countered, still dissatisfied.

Walt sighed, growing weary of Jesse’s complaints. Having worked six days straight instead of the usual five, Walt was feeling particularly exhausted.

“Jesse,” he admonished lightly, and finally the boy relented.

“I know, I know. It just kinda sucks, alright?”

Jesse sighed, before adding in an apologetic tone, “I’ll shut up about it now, okay?”

“That would be for the best,” Walt agreed as he affectionately ruffling Jesse’s hair to show that he wasn’t annoyed at him.

Jesse looked up with him a small smile. “I bet Christmas this year will good. Way better than last year anyway,” he said, instantly sounding more cheerful.

Walt smiled in turn. “I’m sure it will be.”

Again, as awkward as Christmas day itself would probably be, Walt did at least get to spend it with people he loved; his family during the day and Jesse in the evening.

And it hadn’t been like the previous Christmas hadn’t been without its tense moments either given that he hadn’t yet received the news that his cancer was in remission; not to mention the ongoing strain he and Skyler were experiencing within their marriage and Walt’s inner turmoil at having to keep track of all the lies he had told over those past several months.

 “It still doesn’t change the fact that Gus is like a total Scrooge,” said Jesse folding his arms.

“I thought I was the one you considered _Scrooge_ in your mind,” chuckled Walt.

“Nah. You’ve like found your Christmas spirit or whatever. I guess now you’re more like Bob Cratchit.

Plus, I remember you giving me a better grade in a Chemistry test cause of the holidays way back when. Although giving your class a test right before winter break was kind of a dick move, yo,” Jesse teased as he stretched up and placed a kiss on Walt’s jaw.

“Well, it was just one of the variety of ways I hoped to keep you kids minds fresh before taking a break for a couple of weeks considering how much you all seemed to forget even between regular classes,” Walt replied, then getting in his own bit of teasing asked, “Would you have preferred a test on the first day back? Surely that would have been the real challenge.”

“Oh man, then you would have just been evil incarnate,” said Jesse, sounding horrified at the mere thought, and Walt had to admit that even despite wanting his students to engage with the material as much as possible, that would have probably been a bit much.

“That aside, I never knew you were such a Dicken’s fan,” stated Walt, impressed at Jesse’s knowledge of any other characters in ‘A Christmas Carol’ other than the most commonly known, Ebenezer Scrooge.

“’A Christmas Carol’ is awesome!” Jesse declared happily, “Plus, who doesn’t love the Muppet’s, am I right?”

Inwardly, Walt sighed. Of course, the version that Jesse was referring to was the one were the majority of the cast were brightly coloured talking puppets who all sang a great deal.

“You do know that ‘A Christmas Carol’ is based on a book and that there are several other adaptations?”

“Uh, yeah. _Duh_. Ain’t there like a million of them or something?” Jesse shot back, and Walt was glad that Jesse at least knew that.

“But seriously though, why would you wanna watch any other movie about it when you have one were Kermit the Frog and Gonzo are like the main characters?” Jesse scoffed.

“Perhaps for a sense of realism?” Walt supplied.

“Reality is totally over-rated.”

“I wouldn’t quite say that. My reality is looking pretty great at the moment,” Walt mused as he pulled Jesse closer against his side.

Jesse chuckled. “I guess you have a point. But still, muppets, yo!”

To be honest, the fact that it was Jesse’s favourite version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ – given that it seemed to be the one he had actually seen – was of no great surprise to Walt, reminding him of Jesse’s continuing innocence despite everything he had been through.

“I’m sure that given this is Holly’s first Christmas, she won’t have seen it, and she does love ‘Sesame Street’. She’s coming over tomorrow, so we could always watch it then?” suggested Walt as he made plans to go out and try and rent or buy it on DVD before he went to pick Holly up the next day.

“That sounds awesome!” cried Jesse, beaming up at him, Jesse always ridiculously happy whenever Holly visited.

He really was wonderful with her, and Holly in turn seemed to have a real affinity with her father’s partner, almost as if sensing what an incredible person Jesse was despite still being such a young age. Although, really Walt suspected more realistically that his daughter’s love was mostly the result of how Jesse would indulge Holly and engage her continuously in play whenever she wanted it, their absolute favourite game being ‘peek-a-boo’, Jesse being able to hold her attention with the game until whenever nap-time or feeding-time came around. But best of all, Walt could tell that the both of them loved every second of each other’s company.

“Damn. I totally forgot she was coming over tomorrow,” cursed Jesse, “Well, I guess I can wake up early tomorrow and head home and grab her presents and come back.”

“Hey, even though it’s like almost a week early, she can still open them, right? I mean she’d have to open them here anyway?”

“You got Holly a present?” Walt asked in surprise

“Of course, I got Holly a present, dumbass,” Jesse answered indignantly, “You really thought I wouldn’t get her something for Christmas?”

“I just never really thought about it,” Walt admitted truthfully, the notion of Jesse getting Holly being something that hadn’t really crossed him mind.

Jesse rolled his eyes. “She’s your kid. You do know how awesome and adorable she is, right? How could I not get her something for Christmas?”

Walt chuckled. He didn’t think he had ever heard a baby being called ‘awesome’ before, but it was so perfectly Jesse to do so. “I am very aware of how cute and _awesome_ she is.”

Of course, Jesse had gotten Holly a present, Walt thought to himself stupidly. Jesse adored her, and he dared say even loved her, and the fact that he had gone out of his way to get something for his daughter was something that warmed Walt’s heart.

Walt pressed as small kiss to the top of Jesse’s head, hoping to get his appreciation across. “You really didn’t need to go out of your way, but thank you. I’m sure she’ll love whatever you’ve gotten her.”

He felt Jesse momentarily melt into his side before he sat up.

“Ah, crap, I still need to gift wrap them all as well. I don’t think it’ll take too long…”

“How many presents did you actually get for Holly?” Walt asked, suddenly curious.

“Not _that_ many. Just a few things, you know?”

“Hmm.” Walt wasn’t sure if he believed him or not, but he supposed that he would find out tomorrow one way or another.

“Anyway,” began Jesse, playfully, “You okay with her watching the movie tomorrow? I mean, I know how old school you are. You sure you don’t wanna read her the actual book?”

“Even I’m not that monstrous that I would inflict Charles Dicken’s on an eleven-month-old baby,” stated Walt as he ran his hands through Jesse’s hair, “Plus I would much rather sit through the version that two of my favourite people in the world love even if it does have talking puppets.”

“I dunno. If Holly takes after her dad, she might like one of the lamer versions instead,” Jesse teased once more before folding his arms, “But I have confidence that she’ll like make the right choice.”

“At this age, yes, but who knows fifteen years on from on. For all I know she may be a huge literature fan, enjoying the actual source material than film or TV adaptations. So much can happen in that time, that you really just don’t know,” Walt reflected wistfully.

“Fifteen, huh? Man, that sounds like forever away.”

“It does,” Walt agreed, “But when you’re a parent, you’d be surprised how quickly that time goes in. One minute, there they are, just so small, dependent on you for mostly everything, loving you so much, and then they grow up and they become, well, people. Own personality, own likes and interests. And despite maybe wanting to, you can’t change who they become.”

Walt still couldn’t believe how quickly Walt Junior had grown up, it seeming only like yesterday since he was dropping his son off for his first day in Elementary school. And God, that would be Holly in just a few short years’ time…

“I guess it must suck when your kid doesn’t turn out the way you hope,” stated Jesse, sounding strangely pensive and Walt gave him a confused look.

“What do you mean?”

Jesse shrugged. “I dunno. Just like your kid turning out wrong.”

Walt’s brow furrowed. “Wrong how?”

 “Wrong like doing something bad… Hell, even just being bad in like general.”

And Walt quickly realised that Jesse was talking about himself.

And little quieter, Jesse added, “Not that you’ve ever had that problem or anything. I mean Junior’s sixteen and he’s turned out to be a pretty good kid, right?”

Walt frowned, hating hearing Jesse refer to himself in a negative way even if it wasn’t making it overtly clear that he was talking about himself.

Although Jesse tried much of the time not to acknowledge them, the boy had so many parental issues, his parents having engrained the idea that Jesse was ‘bad’ into their son. And while it was true that Jesse had done some questionable things, ‘bad’, was a word as far away possible that Walt would associate with him.

In the end it really was of no wonder to him that Jesse loved being told by Walt – despite Jesse’s obvious embarrassment when he did so – that he was ‘a good boy’, and in particular ‘ _his_ good boy’.

And whenever Jesse got sad about his unfortunate family situation – or really just upset in general – both Walt’s protective and parental instincts would kick into full swing.

“It most certainly would suck,” said Walt, feeling Jesse wince against him.

“ _But_ that’s not the be end and end all, is it? As long as you at least have someone who sees how incredible and beautiful you are despite your faults, that’s by far the most important thing, right?” Walt continued softly, curling his arm snuggly around Jesse’s waist and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head, Jesse letting out a contented sigh in response.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Jesse replied with an appreciative smile.

Walt watched his partner for a few moments, a thoughtful expression on Jesse’s face before Jesse tilted his head upwards and looked directly into Walt’s eyes, a strange sort of resolve in them.

“Hey, you know, even if people may not get or understand something that you’re doing or you’ve done, and get mad at you for it and like don’t forgive you, that doesn’t make you wrong. I mean as long as you have someone that you know, like, loves you, maybe that’ll make it easier to get through all the uncomfortable stuff or whatever, cause you…well, you know you’ll have them there waiting for you.”

Walt stared down at him and Jesse’s suddenly looked worried. “Uh, I mean, that’s what I think. I dunno if -”

But before Jesse could say a word more, Walt was on top of him, pushing Jesse down against the couch cushions.

“Jesse…” Walt uttered softly, knowing that Jesse’s words were directed at him, Jesse well aware of his anxiety about Christmas day; of spending time with a family he felt he was no longer a part of. And yes, it would be uncomfortable but like Jesse said, Jesse would be right there waiting for him.

Walt slowly started to become overwhelmed with emotion because even when he should be the one comforting his lover, Jesse would reach out to him in turn and unselfishly say something that would make Walt feel a million times better about himself and the world around. It was for such a reason that Walt cherished and loved the boy so much. And even if he spent the rest of his life searching, he was convinced that he would never find another person as generous and forgiving and wonderful as Jesse Pinkman.

“Yeah, Mr. White?” Jesse asked breathlessly.

“You do honestly know how much I love you, don’t you, sweetheart?”

Jesse chuckled, smiling up at him with so much affection in his eyes that Walt momentarily felt dazed.

Reaching out, Jesse lovingly cupped Walt’s cheek with his palm. “Course I do, idiot. You know the same, right?”

Jesse’s hand still on his cheek, Walt leant forward and pressed his lips against Jesse’s earning him a soft and tender kiss.

 “I do,” Walt answered happily and pulling back he shuffled down next to Jesse on the couch, turning so they were face to face.

“You really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Just as Walt had been. Jesse appeared overcome with emotion before eventually giving Walt a playful grin. “Yeah, I know that too, idiot.”

Walt laughed and pulled Jesse back into his arms as Jesse snuggled against his chest, sneaking an arm around Walt’s waist.

They stayed like that for a long time, simply holding each other, basking under the lovely glow of the Christmas tree lights until eventually in each other’s arms they drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I meant to have this chapter out sooner but have had a busy couple of days and ended up editing it a little bit.
> 
> I never meant to have so much family related stuff in this (my intention was mainly Christmas fluff) but apparently I can't write Walt or Jesse without referring to at least one of their issues. ^^;;
> 
> Anyway, thanks very much for reading and hopefully it shouldn't be too long before the final chapter is up. :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I took so long to get this chapter out. One of my health issues flared up so unforuntaely couldn't really get much writing done until a few days ago. Anyway, here is the last chapter, just three weeks after Christmas itself. ^^;;

As Walt had planned the previous day, he went out an acquired a copy of ‘A Muppet’s Christmas Carol’ before he went to go pick up Holly. Although in a way, he couldn’t help but feel it was more for Jesse’s benefit than his infant daughter’s...

Jesse had gotten up shortly before Walt headed out – both of them tired and lamenting not being able to have a lie in – to return to his house to pick up Holly’s gifts.

Walt couldn’t help but notice that Skyler looked tired when he arrived to pick up Holly, quickly prompting him to ask if she was alright.

“Just tired from work,” she told him, “You know how crazy this time of year can get. Plus, there’s all that money I have to...”

She stopped, trailing off.

Walt frowned. “What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Anyway, I better go. I still have to pick up a few gifts and I said I would meet Marie for lunch along with dropping in at the carwash, so...”

“Of course,” said Walt, deciding now wasn’t the best time to pry into what Skyler had been about to say – although he had an idea – given how busy she seemed.

“Hey, if you need some extra help at the carwash, or well, watching Holly to give you a break…”

“You’re already busy with your… _manufacturin_ g job. And Marie is more than happy to help out with babysitting Holly.”

Walt repressed a sigh, feeling rebuffed. “Well, the offer’s there.”

“I know. Thank you,” replied Skyler and to Walt’s surprise she sounded sincere.

“Holly does enjoy spending time with you, but wouldn’t your…” Skyler paused momentarily, apparently searching for the right word, “…Partner get frustrated at having a baby around so often?”

Walt just smirked. “You’d be surprised.”

 

Jesse didn’t show up for another half an hour or so after Walt had returned to his condo, and when he did arrive, the younger man was carrying several large bags with him, of which Walt could only presume that inside were all of Holly’s gifts.

“Hey, Holly!” Jesse cried happily, placing the bags on the floor and quickly rushing over and picking her up from Walt’s lap, “Oh man, I missed you so much.”

Holly babbled in response almost as if clarifying that she missed Jesse as well, and Jesse’s face lit up even further.

“Hey, I got you some Christmas presents. I know it’s early but how about we open them now, okay?” said Jesse, handing Holly back over to Walt of which she made a small noise of protest, perhaps having expected one of their at length games of peekaboo.

Eagerly, Jesse pulled out the presents from the bags, of which there were quite a number.

When Jesse noticed the surprised look on Walt’s face, he sheepishly admitted, “Yeah, I may have kinda gone a little overboard or whatever.”

Walt chuckled. “Between the presents from you, Skyler and myself as well as Hank and Marie’s, Holly is going to be completely spoiled.”

Walt was just thankful that Walt Junior was more than old enough not to be jealous of all the presents his sibling received. As an only child it had never been something that Walt had ever experienced growing up, not that his mother had had very much money to spend on presents for him in the first place. As such, it was nice to be able to see his own children spoiled a bit.

“I bet my presents are way better than your asshole brother-in-law’s,” Jesse muttered, and Walt decided not to mention that Marie would most certainly have been the one in charge of buying gifts.

Jesse’s presents were shoddily wrapped to which Walt led him to believe Jesse had wrapped them in a hurry. That or he just wasn’t really used to doing so of which Walt could relate as Skyler, as was the case with the Christmas decorations, was always the one in charge of gift wrapping duty.

Walt took a seat on the floor next to his two-favourite people, watching contentedly as Jesse helped Holly unwrap her gifts, Holly of course being too young to have the dexterity to do it herself. Jesse had gotten her several toys including a stuffed bear, a pop-up storybook and a playmat endued with several cartoon barn yard animals on it of which she could happily roll about on and would no doubt keep her entertained for hours. Jesse also picked out a couple of onesies for Holly. The first one was pink with bunny ears on the hood and a fluffy tail stuck to the bottom, and Walt knew straight away that Jesse had likely bought it because it resembled Holly’s own stuffed rabbit. Meanwhile, the other onesie Walt assumed was supposed to be a dinosaur if the felt spikes running down the back of it and reptilian shaped tail were anything to go by.

While he was appreciative that Jesse had gone out of his way to get so many presents for Holly, Walt was far more interested in the happenings of Jesse buying them given that it was particularly easy to imagine his partner being completely out of place in an aisle, or store as was the more likely case, filled with baby products. Nevertheless, Walt had no doubt that while it would have been amusing to observe, it would have also been an endearing sight.

“You’re so lucky, Holly,” said Walt bending over and placing a kiss to the top of her head as she explored her new playmat.

“Thank you. These are all wonderful,” he added before placing a soft kiss to Jesse’s lips.

“So, should I expect this many Christmas presents for myself?”

“Nope,” Jesse laughed, and Walt pretended to look momentarily offended before going in for another kiss.

 

Later on in the day, after a diaper change, they tried the onesies on Holly to make sure they fitted alright. First the bunny one and then the dinosaur onesie. They were a little big for her but Walt reassured Jesse that it was a good thing given how quickly kids grew, especially at Holly’s age. Walt had to admit, they both looked adorable on her.

Deciding to leave the dinosaur onesie on, they then sat down and watched the movie Jesse has been so eager to show Holly, or rather just an excuse to watch.

During the film, Jesse held Holly in his lap, giving her a gentle comforting squeeze every time she started to squirm. It was only halfway through the film that something occurred to Walt and with a devilish grin on his face, he leant over and whispering in Jesse’s ear, said, “I hope you didn’t just get Holly that onesie so you can have a replacement for Chomppy.”

Jesse’s face had gone beetroot red at that. “Of course not!” Jesse cried, shooting Walt a death glare.

Walt burst out laughing. Yep, he was most certainly never going to let Jesse ever live that down.

 

The next few days were rather uneventful.

Walt had initially been a bit hesitant about spending Christmas Eve at Jesse’s place, believing it would be somewhat depressing for Jesse given that come morning Walt would have to quickly depart to get ready to spend the day with his family in turn leaving Jesse all by himself.

It turned out not to be an issue however as Jesse had seemingly already made plans with his friends.

“Yeah, Badger and Pete are coming over and we’re gonna watch the ultimate Christmas movie!” Jesse explained as he searched for the TV remote.

“‘It’s a Wonderful Life?’” Walt asked, the Christmas classic the first film that came to mind.

“Uh, _no_. ‘Die Hard’, yo! It’s totally the best!”

“Die Hard? That isn’t a Christmas movie,” Walt replied, baffled.

“What? It totally is!” Jesse retorted, “It takes place on Christmas Eve and it has John McClane kicking the shit out of all of those bad guys. It’s awesome!”

Walt opened his mouth to reply that simply by taking place around Christmas time didn’t mean it was a necessarily a Christmas movie but in the end decided arguing would be more effort than he was willing to expend at that moment.

“Alright then, if you said so.”

Jesse gave him a look that said he knew that Walt didn’t believe, but like Walt chose to keep quiet, continuing on with his search.

Once Jesse finally found the remote – it had managed to find its way under the couch – looking pleased with himself he plopped down on Walt’s lap and triumphantly holding it up cried, “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”

 

While it did have its moments, Christmas spent with his family hadn’t been quite as uncomfortable as Walt had originally anticipated. Although he had a feeling that this was mainly due to everyone’s focus on Holly to who Walt had correctly predicted, had been absolutely spoiled with many presents. 

And while it wasn’t a new car, for Walt Junior, together he and Skyler had got him a new videogame console along with several games to go with it, Jesse having offered Walt some recommendations on what he might like. Junior seemed quite happy with the gift, although unsurprisingly it had resulted in him disappearing for large chunks of time to his room to play the thing, Skyler having to drag him back out a couple times, reminding him that he had the rest of his vacation to play videogames.

Perhaps the most awkward moment of the day for Walt had been when it reached the point for him and Skyler exchanging gifts, their first time doing so since their separation.

Skyler had gotten him a sweater while Walt had given Skyler a bottle of perfume she was fond of. Both of them had graciously thanked each other but there were no hugs or kisses as was usually the case afterwards. It was to be expected of course, but not being able to fall back on old routines did make it somewhat uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Hank swooped in with his own present for Walt, nipping any awkward silences in the bud.

Dinner was delicious as always and while Marie had brought over dessert, it was Skyler who had done all of the cooking. Walt even noticed that Skyler had gotten a larger turkey than usual and was pleased to see that she was willing to splurge out a bit more now, remembering her reaction to when Walt had bought an expensive bottle of wine to celebrate them purchasing the carwash. He supposed in Skyler’s mind, the success of the carwash allowed her to justify it.

In the end, Walt found that he had actually quite enjoyed himself, although several times his mind had wandered to Jesse, wondering how the boy was doing. Again, it was difficult not to feel just the slightest bit guilty being here when Jesse was on his own.

And so, as day turned to night and it was clear that Junior was unlikely to emerge from his room again, as well as it being not too early to leave as to appear rude, Walt announced that he was heading off.

Hank had protested saying he should stick around a bit longer, but Walt politely declined stating he was tired.

Just as he was about to walk out the door, Skyler stopped him, and handed Walt a couple of plates wrapped in cellophane with some leftovers on it to take home with him. He noticed they had both had the same food on each, leaving him to wonder if perhaps one of them was intended for Jesse. Smiling, he thanked her.

After a quick trip back to his condo to pick up some clean clothes, he drove straight over to Jesse’s place.

Walt’s partner was sitting on the futon, and just as his son had been doing when he had left, was playing videogames.

After removing his coat and placing his bag down he walked over to Jesse and taking a seat, bent over and kissed him lightly on the lips.

“Aw man, you just totally just got me killed,” Jesse huffed afterwards, placing the controller down on the table in front of him as the words ‘game over’ in a bloody font appeared on the television screen, “It’s gonna take me like forever to get back to that point.”

Walt snorted. “Surely kissing and spending time with me is more important than some videogame?”

Jesse tilted his head and with a considering look said, “Hmm, I dunno, man. It’s a pretty awesome game, yo.”

Walt rolled his eyes.

Jesse sniggered and softly grasping the sides of Walt’s cheeks went in for a deeper kiss. “Course it’s way better, asshole. Merry Christmas.”

 Walt chuckled. “Merry Christmas, son.”

“I missed you,” Jesse stated earnestly as he leant against Walt’s side, “You have a good time?”

Walt wrapped his arm around Jesse’s shoulders. “It was as good as to expected,” he replied, somewhat fearful that admitting he had a good time would make Jesse feel bad. However, the moment the words left his mouth, he realised that Jesse would have probably been happy for him, regardless of the boy’s own situation.

“And I missed you too,” Walt added, “Skyler liked your gift for Holly by the way.”

“Really?” Jesse asked, sounding rather surprised. While it had been agreed that most of Jesse’s presents would be left at Walt’s place for something for Holly to play with whenever she visited, Walt decided that Holly should at least take one of them back home with her.

Skyler still thought of Jesse as just some junkie and desperately Walt wanted to show her that he was so much more and it seemed a good opportunity to prove Jesse’s thoughtfulness.

“Jesse knows how much Holly loves that stuffed rabbit of hers, so he wanted to get her something that reminded Holly of it,” Walt had explained as he had showed it off to Skyler.

Skyler had looked surprised.

“I tried it on her. It fits her,” Walt reassured.

Skyler nodded, her expression neutral. “Well, I suppose tell him thank you, then.”

“She thought it was really cute. In fact, that’s what Holly wore most of today.”

Jesse’s face lit up at that piece of information.

“I really wish you could have been there today,” said Walt, lightly squeezing Jesse’s shoulder

“Really?” Jesse questioned, somewhat incredulously, “Cause that sounds like it would be the most awkward thing in like the entirety of the universe.”

While Walt thought Jesse was exaggerating just a bit, he had to admit it would have made for an incredibly awkward day.

“Okay, maybe not,” Walt conceded.

“I’ve already had the shit beaten out of by your brother-in-law,” Jesse groaned, “Seriously, one time is more than enough.”

Walt winced, his guilt always rising to the surface whenever the unpleasant incident was brought up. The phone call he had made to Hank that day had been the only way to get Hank to leave so he and Jesse could destroy the RV, therefore getting rid of any evidence, but it had still caused Jesse a great deal at harm and resulted in a trip the emergency room. And while in hindsight, Jesse too realised this, Walt still felt responsible for him getting hurt.

Glancing over at Walt, Jesse frowned, and sounding guilty himself, said, “Shit. Sorry, yo. I didn’t mean to like…”

Walt quickly hushed him, placing his hand on top of his head. “It’s fine,” Walt reassured, “You don’t have anything to apologise for, okay?”

Jesse gave a tentative nod.

“And hey, although I missed you today, we still have the rest of the night and the next two days to spend together. All to ourselves.”

Jesse’s face brightened. “Really? But don’t you gotta work a shift at the carwash?”

“Actually, Skyler decided to close up shop for the next couple of days,” explained Walt, “Normally it wouldn’t be the best of business decisions given how new the business itself actually is, and what with the need to garner customer loyalty, but considering the majority of A1’s revenue is actually coming from elsewhere, well…”

“Who cares? This means we both actually get to relax and do like shit all for the entire weekend. That’s awesome!” Jesse declared, happily

Walt chuckled at the boy’s enthusiasm. Nevertheless, Walt had to admit, it was something he was also very much looking forward to.

 

True to their words, they spent the next day in what could be described as a lazy haze of contentment, with them barely leaving Jesse’s bed at all. While great for catching up on sleep and lazing around, it was also very beneficial for great deal of other things. In fact, it was only Walt’s reminder of the leftovers he had brought over of Christmas dinner the day before that was enough to arouse Jesse from his blissed-out state. So much so that he practically dragged Walt of bed at the prospect of eating them.

Of course, when Walt found out that the boy had only eaten a bag of funyuns and a single pop tart the day before, that explained it, as well as reminding Walt that Jesse should never be left to his own devices for more than twenty-four hours. It was no wonder that as well as being his lover, Walt felt such a strong paternal instinct towards Jesse. And so, relenting he followed Jesse and got up.

“Aww man, this tastes great!” Jesse exclaimed as he shoved another forkful of food into his mouth.

“Well, unfortunately it won’t taste as good as it did yesterday. Heating leftovers up never is, but I’m glad you liked it,” said Walt, taking a small bite of his own food as he contentedly watched Jesse eat his. It wasn’t a proper Christmas dinner by any means, but it was nice to offer something up to Jesse that at least resembled it and gave him the feeling of.

“I dunno. When you microwave pizza the next day, it like tastes even better.”

“I highly doubt that,” replied Walt, unconvinced.

Jesse shrugged. “Better than eating it cold.”

Walt supposed he at least had a point there.

“Still, you’re ex-wife’s an awesome cook.”

Walt nodded in agreement. “She is. Skyler was always a much better cook than I was.”

“You sure? I don’t think she’d be able to cook meth as dope as yours.”

Walt snorted.

“Still, when it comes to food, your spaghetti carbonara is da bomb.”

Walt smiled at that, feeling pleased. It was one of the few things he was actually better than Skyler at making.

“I like that I still get to taste her cooking when I go over for dinner,” Walt said offhandedly, “It’s provides, well, a nice sense of familiarity.”

After saying so, Walt noticed that Jesse wore a strangely thoughtful expression on his face.

“Jesse?” Walt questioned, awakening Jesse from whatever he was thinking about.

“Uh, nothing,” Jesse quickly replied, taking a bite of turkey.

With the knowledge that Jesse hadn’t eaten much the previous day and seeing how much his partner was enjoying it, Walt shovelled some of what was left on his plate onto Jesse’s, explaining that he was full up already.

“Really?” Jesse asked, surprised. Walt shrugged. “Oh well, you’re loss.”

And eagerly Jesse continued to eat.

Of course, it may have been too much or simply Jesse had eaten too quickly as the boy ended up with a slight stomach ache afterwards. And so, they returned back to bed, Jesse lying on his side as Walt lay next to him gently rubbing his bloated tummy.

“I forgot what a greedy boy you can be,” Walt whispered in his ear. Jesse let out a moan at that, and Walt was unsure if it was because of the discomfort Jesse was experiencing, frustration and embarrassment at Walt’s teasing words, or if Jesse was simply turned on. More than likely it was a case of all three.

Walt grinned. And less than ten minutes later, Jesse was sat on his lap, groaning in pleasure as Walt thrust into him while continuing to whisper further teasing words in Jesse’s ear. 

And although, there was still just under a week of the current year left to go, Walt couldn’t help but wondering just what the next one would hold for them. But being in bed like this with Jesse right now, Walt honestly couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the festive season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with most of things I write, this fic ended up being a bit longer than I had originally intended but hopefully it didn't drag on too much.
> 
> Thank's very much for reading! :D


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